Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1896 — Page 3

POLITICS OF THE DAY

WITH A STRING TO IT. Reed— McKinley is a daisy, And I would like to see Him get the nomination And lead the G. O. P. Nit! Morton— I want to help the party With heart and head and hand, And shall be happy having McKinley lead the baud. Nit! AllisonOn serious reflection, I have concluded that McKinley is a leader Who knows where he is at. Nit! Manderson— I’m glad to know McKinley Has joshed me, and I’ll see That later at St. Louis He wins the victory. Nit! Davis— I’ve always felt we needed One like McKinley to Come to the front, like Moses, And take the party through. Nit! Oullom— I take peculiar pleasure In rising here to state I’m happy to surrender My chance to one so great. Nit! Quay— I’m going to help McKinley Swipe all the other States, And by and by I’ll throw him The Pennsylvania delegates. Nit! McKinley— Ah, gentlemen, I thank you For what you’ve said to-day; You know that I’m relying On every word you say. Nit! And, gentlemen, I hasten To give you no* a bit Of news; to wit, you’re booked for McKinley’s cabi—Nit! —New York Sun.

More Protection for German Meat. The agitation for the exclusion of American meats from Germany has recently been renewed in the Prussian "Legislature, a story of an old woman who was alleged to have been made ill by eating too much American corned beef serving as an excuse for an attack on all kinds of our meat exports. A strong sentiment against American meats was shown to exist among the representatives of the German landlords.

From the standpoint of the German meat producers, who are simply trying to carry out the doctrines of the American McKinleyites, it is, of course, highly desirable that the importation of the cheap meats of the United States should be forbidden. With a monopoly of the entire home market the German meat raisers would be enabled to charge much higher prices, and the landlords would get bigger rents. But the forty-five millions of Germans who are not engaged in the meat business would find the exclusion of American meats a serious hardship. Each and everyone of them would be compelled to pay more for an important article of their daily food, and the poorest classes would find it impossible to get as much meat as they need. The result would be that the masses of the people would be underfed, or robbed, by monopoly prices, for the sole advantage of the rich aristocrats who own the soil of Germany. While thus injuring the great majority of the German people, the exclusion of American meats would also severely injure our own farmers. With the loss of an important market the price of meats in this country would quickly fall, and a large number of our stock raisers would find themselves unable to dispose of their products. This would mean ruin to many farmers who are now prosperous, and .who would have only protection to thank for their losses. The American farmer has only to figure out for himself the probable result of all the countries to which he sells his products enacting trade-excluding laws, to see that protection is a dangerous system, which curses both the people adopting it and those against whom it is aimed. When it becomes sound public policy to shut our cheap wholesome meats out of Germany, then and then only will there be any justification for the protective swindle. A Sample Calamity Yawp. Under the scare heading “Wilson Law Prosperity” the New York Press published a number of news items referring to strikes and business difficulties in the textile industry. This was intended to show that the Wilson tariff has not given business to incompetent mill owners, nor has it enabled factories using old out-of-date machinery to compete with more enterprising mills. Among other alleged effects of the low tariff was the following: “A strike was inaugurated at the works of the Firth Carpet Company, West Cornwall, N. Y., the latter part of last week, by Six boys, who refused to work on the new fast machines, and were promptly dismissed. The action of the superintendent, who, it is claimed, also discharged the relatives of the boys, so incensed the operatives that they all went out.” Nothing can be clearer to the muddled protectionist mind than that this strike is due to the wicked Wilson law. If good Mr. McKinley’s-tariff was in force the bad boys would never think of refusing to work on new machines. So there would have been no strike, and the Press would have had no calamity howl to use as an argument for restoring a panic-breeding tariff. Great is the wisdom of the pessimistic weepers Who run Republican organs. Fat Friers in Front as lienal. The fat-frier of the present seems to have the call in the Republican party pver the Credit Mobilier statesman of

long ago. Mr. Allison has been respectable too long to make him a hot favorite for Republican honors. The most prominent man in the latest “iniquity” stands the best chance. William McKinley leads all the rest. He commands the most “fat.”—Utica Observer.

Trying to Tax Foreigners. The New Hampshire Republican State convention distinguished itself by inserting in its platform the old hightariff chestnut: “The foreigner pays the tax.” After some sterotyped abuse of the Democracy for “three years of disappointment, privation and distress,” the Granite State Republicans deinanded “the speedy repeal of the Democratic tariff and the substitution thereof of one based upon the principles of the McKinley act, for the procurement of national revenues as far as possible from foreigners who market their merchandise in competition with our productions.” . It is just possible that the benighted McKinleyites of New Hampshire are still living in the mists and darkness of the ages when it was believed that taxes on imports were paid by the foreign producer. Whether real or assumed their ignorance shows that in spite of our great public school system there is still a deplorable need of the study of elementary arlthemetic. If the men who talk of collecting revenues from foreigners were able to add and subtract correctly, they would not try to impose their theory on the public. The notion that duties on goods are not paid by the consumer cannot be honestly held by any one who understands that two and two make four, or that five from six leaves one.

The facts of every day business experience show so plainly the absurdity of the delusion that we can tax the people of other countries for the support of our government, that it is unnecessary to seriously argue against it. A mind so constituted that it believes that although the importer adds the customs duties to the price of the goods he buys from abroad and the retailer charges the tariff tax to the price at which the goods are finally sold, the foreign producer pays the additional cost due to the tariff, cannot be influenced by facts or logic. The idea put into the platform of the New Hampshire Republicans is not a doctrine or a theory, but a superstition, and will only disappear when the people become generally enlightened. In 1892 a majority of more than a million Americans by their votes showed that they knew who pays the tariff taxes. In 1896 the majority against McKinley scheme for higher duties should be even larger. By 1946 even the New Hampshire protectionists may find out that taxes are always paid by the consumers of the goods on which they are imposed.

International Trade. A protectionist, whose letter to the Herald was printed in full on the 14th Inst., seeks to bolster up the old theory that if the value of a nation’s imports exceeds the value of its exports it has an adverse balance of trade, and is impoverished to that extent. To make out this proposition he relies upon the supposed case of a farmer who sells $2,000 worth of his farm products in a year and buys $3,000 worth of goods from outside. The writer assumes that merchants in the international trade are simpletons, such as he depicts his imaginary farmer. The two cases are essentially different. Our importers do not import what they cannot sell, and the people do not buy 50 per cent, more of imported goods than they need. If our importers import more than home consumption demands, their capital enables them usually to hold the surplus till the demand equals the supply. Moreover, in iifternational trade, any country’s Imports are what it gets in return for its exports of Its surplus production—which if not exported would in some cases perish or rot. If our agriculturists and mill owners cannot produce and export more than the home market consumes, they must at times let their lands and mills lie idle. Every tariff duty or restriction on our imports necessarily injures our export trade, and is therefore a blow dealt at both our capital and labor. Is it not perfectly clear that when the ascertained value of our imports most exceeds that of our exports our foreign trade is, as a rule, most profitable, and the balance of trade is not adverse but really favorable?—New York Herald. Responsibility Already Located. It is somewhat amusing to note the efforts of Republican papers to put the blame of the do-nothing policy in Congress on the Democratic minority. In legislation the minority cannot be blamed for anything. The majority has the power and is responsible for the legislation. Some days since Speaker Reed announced that the Republican party had the responsibility for the legislation of this session and was ready to accept it. The people will recognize no other responsibility.—lndianapolis Sentinel.

Harrison as the Bogy Man. There begins to be a tinge of seriousness, especially to the McKinley forces, in the candidacy of Harrison, which refuses to be downed. The New York end of the political wires is becoming much agitated, and the leaders have convened to discuss the new condition of affairs.—Dubuque Tim’S. No Colored Delegates. If there are any colored delegates going to the Republican national convention from the North we have not yet chanced on their names. And yet the Northern Republicans claim the ownership of the negro vote in the North.— Peoria Herald. Too Near the Fire Alarm Statesman. The managers Of the McKinley boom will make a fatal mistake if they permit Mr. Foraker to sit too near that large consignment of fireworks they have ordered for their St. Louis display.—Washington Post.

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS FOR THE AGRICULTURISTS. A Prolific Breed of Sheep—New Pranine Shear* Having a Sliding Blade —How to Select Potatoes for Seed— Dehorning Yonng Calves. Shropshire Sheep. The Shropshire branch of the Down family partakes of the general characteristics of the Southdown, says the Orange Judd Farmer, although much heavier both in fleece and body, and also more robust. It is said to be the most prolific of all breeds of sheep, the average rate of increase in some flocks of pure Shropshire often being 150 per cent., while the product from the cross of the Shropshire ram on half-bred long-wool ewes frequently reaches 200 per cent The prolific tendency of the Shropshire is a point of great importance with the breeder, as it materially Increases the profits in furnishing early lambs for the market. They are also good mothers, and generally have an abundance of milk for their young, in this respect differing from many of the

SHROPSHIRE LAMB.

large breeds. The Shropshire has a longer face, of uniform dark tint, than the Southdown, a full and spirited eye, spreading ears of good size, and a forehead rather flat and well wooled. Their fleece weight is generally from five to seven pounds. The meat is like the Southdowns in fineness of texture, the presence of fat in the tissues, and richness of color. These sheep are hardy in moist climates, and will endure a wide range of soil and feeding. The illustration herewith shows a blpe ribbon ram lamb belonging to W. H. Beattie, of Canada. Potatoes for Seed. There needs to be greater care taken in selecting potatoes. Not only the right form and size are important, but it is quite as much so that the seed should be grown from plants that have kept their vigor until the tubers were fully ripened, and that had not suffered from attacks of the potato bug, says the Orange County Farmer. The only way to be absolutely sure about having good potato seed is to mark the strongest hills while they were growing, and select the best potatoes from these ’■ill’s. Such seed should easily bo wo?th five times as much per bushel for planting as seed selected at random from a pit or bln. If a farmer can once get started with seed of this character, it will require much less labor to fight the potato bug. It is a good plan, also, to try the new varieties as quickly as they come into market. Most varieties grown from seed will yield much heavier crops for two or three years after their introduction than they ever will again. Dishorning Calves. Dishorning calves, when two to three days old, with the chemical dlsliorners (which, I believe, are simply dissolved potash), is in my case a complete success, says a contributor to the Country Gentleman. I have found a better way for me, yet I wilt describe the chemical way: Before the horn has come through the skin—on the second day after birth, if possible—cut the hair away from the place where the horn would come—you can feel the bump—and moisten a place as large as a silver quarter dollar thoroughly with the dishorning fluid, rubbing it in with a small swab. Do not drop any on clothes, flesh, or on the calf’s eyes. In ten minutes rub more on. Then let alone, and have no more uneasiness on the horn question in the case of that calf. A brown crust forms, which is the skin killed by the dishorner. Let this alone and it will come off in due time. To make the chemical dishorner, dissolve a little potash in as little water as will do; keep in a glassstoppered bottle. Fresh W-ater for Hogs, No animal suffers more frequently from thirst than does the hog, especially when it is fattening. If it is fed milk afid swill, the latter made salty by the addition of the brine made from salt pofk while it is being freshened, its case is so much the worse. Milk contains some water, but it is so mixed with fat and casein that it cannot serve as a substitute for water, as any one may see by placing fresh water where the hogs can get it at will. They will not drink large amounts. The hog’s stomach is not large enough to hold a great bulk either of food or drink. But the hogs that have fresh water will have better digestion, and if fattening will be more free from fever for having pure water. On many farms so much salt meat is freshened, and the water used in doing this is saved for the swill barrel, that the hogs fed swill are constantly suffering intense thirst, making them unhealthy and diminishing their ability to make the best use of the food they eat. Fraud Among Milk Dealers. The report of the Massachusetts State Dairy Bureau calls attention to a new fraud practiced by milk dealers which cannot be reached under the existing statutes. It appears that certain milk, when tested, has the required amount of milk solids, but the percentage of fat is very low. It has been found that this State of affairs is due to the addition of a condensed skimmed milk after the cream has been removed by the dealer. The report says that the dealer practicing this fraud cannot be successfully prosecuted, because it cannot be proved that the cream has been removed, and the addition of the condensed skimmed milk is not an addition of “a foreign substance,” prohibited by statute. It appears that a concern In New York is doing a thriving business furnishing

dealers with the condensed skimmed milk. The number of cans of milk received by dealers in Boston in 1895 was 9.856,500, of which there were sold 8,040,732, each can containing 8% quarts. This quantity supplied about three-fourths of the “greater Boston" district.—American Cultivator. Potatoes for Cows. Potatoes have been found in many trials to be an excellent feed for meat production, and the general estimate of their value for this purpose Is that four pounds of tubers are about equal to one pound of meal. Some rate them even higher than this. Their value, according to the Orange County Farmer, however, does not depend upon the nutrition they contain solely,4*ut upon the fact that as part of the ration they tend t« keep stock healthy and are an aid to digestion. No very accurate data exists as to their value in milk production, although they used to be regarded as a good milk feed in a general way. Some experiments confirm the old-time view, witn the qualification, however, that when fed largely they lower the quality of the product to some extent, but a small ration of, say, five to six pounds a day produces no effect upon quality, and is valuable from a sanitary point of view, and for the sake of variety, answering in this respect to the office performed by roots in mixed feeding. While pigs do not readily eat raw potatoes, or at least prefer them cooked, cows eat them with avidity in their raw state.

The “Grain” of Butter. When the butter has “come,” and appears in little Irregular masses, from a pin’s head to a large pea in size, is the time to draw off the butter in the churn. This removes most of the buttermilk, says the Massachusetts Ploughman. After being then gathered and removed from the churn, worked, washed and salted on the butter-worker at the proper temperature, we find upon breaking it that it has a granular look. The mass seems to be made of little particles with a slightly glistening appearance. This is called the “grain.” These small particles arc partially kept apart by films of water (after salting this water becomes briue), and the peculiar texture thus imparted to the butter is a test of proper manufacture. Over-churn or overwork it, churn or work it at the wrong temperature, and the grain is gone, never to be restored, and with it is gone a large percentage of the selling value of butter. Enough water (brine) must be gathered to produce this appearance, wliich distinguishes “butter" from “grease.” Consequently, the most perfect grain Is obtained by washing it in the churn before the butter is “gathered.” [ New Pruning Shears. Here are a pair of garden shears, which are constructed on a principle quite different from ordinary shears. The latter will, no matter how sharp, never cut twigs and branches very easy. The way they shut pushes the twig away from the cutting edge, and much force is uselessly spent. The shears shown In our cut are quite different in that respect; the upper blade while closing slides toward the hand

SHEARS HAVE A SLIDING BLADE.

by a simple, yet very ingenious contrlvance, which is fully explained in the illustration. The sliding upper blade does not allow the twig to slip away from the grasp of the shears, but will even draw it into its cutting edge. The inventor of these garden shears is now constructing other scissors upon the same principle, and claims that cutting of several layers of cloth is performed with much less use of force and with better results than with the old-time scissors. Keep the Hens at Work. An active fowl is usually a healthy one, and a hen that has this characteristic, if possessing a large, red comb and egg-pouch, can be counted upon as a steady layer, if only she is given kind attention, says the Independent. In cold weather you must not expect anything but trouble from a flock of idle chickens that have nothing to do but mopb about in a half-sleepy condition; it is unnatural; what they require is activity. Make them scratch among hay or litter for every mouthful you give them, keeping them a trifle hungry; this will stir the blood, and give them something to think about. Please remember this when you complain about not getting many eggs. Activity, meat scraps and a variety of food, with milk occasionally, will solve the question better than anything you can do for them. Winter is the time they require your best care. Don’t blame the hens before you take yourself to task; be just in all things. Odds and Knds. Clover tea is excellent for purifying the blood, clearing the complexion and removing pimples. Dried clover may be used for the tea. If castor oil is applied to a wart once a day for a month the wart will entirely disappear. In many cases it will not require so long a time. Water carrying a little salt in solution is said to be an excellent wash for tired or inflamed eyes when stronger solutions may prove injurious. The discovery that cold coffee is an excellent tonic for growing plants should do away with the last remnants of the custom of warming over cold coffee.

To prevent a bruise from discoloring apply Immediately hot water, or, If that is not at hand, moisten some dry starch with cold water and cover the bruised place. It is said that if parsley is eaten with onions or a salad containing onions the odor of the onion will not affect the breath. The sprigs of parsley should be eaten as you would celery. A simple disinfectant to use in a sick room is made by putting some ground coffee in a saucer and in the center a small piece of camphor gum. Light the gum with a match. As the gum burns allow the coffee to burn with it. The perfume is refreshing and healthful, as well as inexpensive.

INDIANA’S FAVORITE SON.

GOVERNOR CLAUDE MATTHEWS.

The earnest efforts which have been inaugurated by Indiana Democrats to secure the presidential nomination for Gov. Matthews are bearing such fruit that his friends are looking forward with confidence to his triumph at Chicago. Though Indiana has put forward candidates for the presidency lie fore, it is conceded that the canvass now in progress is singular in the fact that it embraces all shades of Democratic sentiment. The reason of the cordial unanimity in the Governor's support is his personal popularity, coupled with the firm belief that the party could win the national contest with a Western man. The three years of Gov. Matthews’ administration have been clean years, free from official scandal and pregnant with energy and executive ability. In all the relations that he has borne to the people he has secured their approval and, by a dignified, conservative and fearless discharge of his duty, has intensified the admiration of party friends and won the respect of his party enemies. His official acts have received commendation from the Republican and independent press in as great measure as praise was accorded him by the Democratic papers. His private life, like his official career, has been above reproach, and his supporters believe that a campaign with him as the partyleader would inspire confidence in the people and lend enthusiasm to the Democrats that no other candidate would give. Indiana Democrats believe that the West has long enough paid obeisance to the East in the matter of selecting candi-

dates for the presidency, nnd they look forward to the consummation in the Governor’s nomination of the hope which the party has long cherished of being permitted to vote for a Western man. They claim that the West, Northwest nnd South give the votes that must elect the Democratic candidate, and assert that it is the Eastern Democrats that have always caused the party plans to miscarry. While it is not intended to make the canvass of the Governor sectional, it is believed that the time has come when the Democratic party should break away from the entanglements which have always followed from the differences between the Western and Eastern Democrats on the tariff. It is therefore in the West and South that the friends of the Governor are making efforts for his nomination, and the reports from these sections in answer to letters sent out by the Democratic managers inspire the belief that the executive will have a large following in the Chicago convention. One of the strong points that the Governor's friends are urging in bis beluilf is the fact that he is both a Southern and a Northern man, Southern by virtue of birth and education and Northern by location and habit since he attained his majority, and thus fully in sympathy with the ideas, needs and sentiments of the two localities. On this account, it is assumed, he will be acceptable both to the North and the South, and it is with this idea in view that his campaign is now being managed. Gov. Claude Matthews is a Kentuckian by birth. He was born in Bath County in 1845. He is well preserved, and would ordinarily be regarded as much younger, for the years have dealt kindly with him. His hair is slightly tinged with gray, bi* step is elastic, his movements quick and energetic, and his manner animated. He weighs about 170 pounds, has a round, full face, a cordial grasp of the hand and a pleasant smile. The Governor was reared upon a farm, and when 18 years of age entered Center College at Danville, Ky., from which he was graduated in 1808. In the meantime he met his wife, Miss Martha Whitcomb, daughter of Gov. and later United States Senator Whitcomb. One year after Matthew/ graduation they were married and came to Vermilion County to live. From that time till 1890, when he came to Indianapolis as Secretary of State, he resided upon a farm of several hundred acres near Clinton; and devoted himself to its culture and to stock raising. His interest in improved breeds of stock led him to organize the Indiana Shorthorn Breeders’ Association several years ago, and he was its president for several years. In 1878 Matthews was elected to the House of Representatives from Clinton County, and in 1890 he was nominated for State Senator in the same district. The supposed necessity of nominating a farmer to head the State ticket in thq same year called attention to him as the most available man for Secretary of State, and he was nominated by the State convention for that office. He made an energetic campaign, speaking in nearly all the counties in the State, and was elected by the phenomenal majority for Indiana of 21,000. Two years later he was asked to enter the race for the governorship, but withheld his consent until the eve <>l the State convention, Many of the connties had refused to instruct for the other candidates, and when the delegates reached the city and found Matthews actively in the race there was a hegira to hia standard, and he was nominated on the first ballot. Matthews had been almost unanimously nominated in two conventions, and the ease with Which

GOVERNOR CLAUDE MATTHEWS.

In less than six months after entering upon the duties of Governor, Matthews was called upon to face a most serious situation. The coni miners of southeastern Indiana were on a strike, and conditions tendering on anarchy resulted in those localities. The strikers refused to permit any coal to be moved from the banks, nnd trains were ditched that attempted to transport it through the State. The Governor ordered out the militia, and after several days, order was completely rostonjd and traffic resumed without interruption. It then developed that there was no provision for paying the companies that had taken the field. The Governor pledged his personal credit to the banks for the money to pay them, nnd the needed amount was thus raised. The strike of the American Railway Union again presented grave conditions, and again resort was bad to the military to suppress lawlessness and - protect property. In this instance the Governor acted promptly and ably seconded the President in bringing order out of the chaos that existed in northern Indiana. But the most stubborn class of lawbreakers with which the executive has had to deal was the men engaged in prize fighting in Lake County, and afterward in winter racing. Against both of these he invoked the law, and supported it in the case of the Columbian Athletic Club with the military power of the State, taking possession of the club’s property, and eventually winding up the association in the courts. Close upon the heels of the Columbian Athletic Club came the Roby Racing Association, whose object was to conduct winter racing in Lake County. The Governor sent a special agent to the scene, and from his reports and the general reputation of the association, he came to the conclusion that the race meetings were made the rendezvous of thugs, gamblers and criminals. On his recommendation the Legislature passed a law prohibiting horse racing during the winter months, but it required a Supreme Court decision to settle the question. In respect to public questions, the Governor, though conservative, does not hesitate to take advanced ground. He was one of the first public men in the country to advocate the recognition by this Government of the belligerent rights of the Cuban patriots. ’Looking back over his record and forward to its continued merit, Should conditions arise that require firmness of purpose and promptness of action, the Indiana Democrats say that he is well worthy of the confidence of the country and of the indorsement of his party by a call to come up higher. In the governorship he has developed rare qualities of patience in investigation, conservatism in action and promptness and determination when a policy has once been decided unon.

he won inspired confidence and generated enthusiasm among his friends. While not an eloquent speaker, he proved a greater success on the hustings in* 1892 than in the preceding campaign. The campaign was not a brilliant one in the ordinary sense, for there was a dearth of pyrotechnics, but a Democratic majority of 7,000 testified to the aggressive spirit which the Democrats had manifested throughout the campaign. The acts that have particularly distinguished the Governor’s courageous convictions and determination of purpose are in connection with the State Board of Equalization, of which he was a member when Secretary of State, and president by virtue of liis office of Governor. Prior to 1890 the railroad property of the State had been assessed at about $60,000,000, but the Legislature [Hissed a new law and it was determined to bring corporate property to the basis of assessment which obtained in other oases. The board at once added nearly $100,000,000 to the railroad valuation, and this has stood since 1890 with but few modifications. When Matthews was nominated for Governor and President Ingalls, of the “Big Four,” was asked for a contribution to the Democratic campaign fund, he replied in effect that he would give nothing and hoped that Matthews, whom he styled a demagogue, would be defeated. The Governor turned Ingalls' letter to good account among the farmers of the State, and the tact with which he used it to show the attitude of corporations toward a just ns-

sessment no doubt made many votes fol the ticket. The railroads united In resisting the assessment, but the United States Supreme Court sustained it al every point. Ingalls then came before ths board to nsk for reductions on certain roads, and the Governor was one of the first members of the board to realize that some minor discriminations had been made against the "Big Four” properties and to suggest modifications. The railroad president admitted that he had misconceived the character of the Governor and tlie two lutve been friends ever since.

Machine Guns.

It has been calculated that a ten-bar-reled machine gun is equal in intensity and endurance of fire to an entire company of Infantry at full war strength.

HEATRECORDBROKEN

AUGUST WEATHER IS EXPERIENCEO IN APRIL. By Beginning Before Snnriee the Thermometer at Chicago Works Itself Up to 88 at 4 o’Ciock. and Winter-Gar-ment-Wearing Public Melts. Oppressive Weather. Records in the weather line underwent a shock Thursday, from which they cannot recover for at least a year. With a unanimity that was admirable all the thermometers and all the old residents agree that it was the hottest April day that ever fell to their lot. The thermometer in the Chicago Auditorium tower, which always is bashful about climbing up too high, registered at one time during the afternoon as high os 84, but its metallic brothers In the streets below were not at all backward in proclaiming their knowledge that it was 88. The weather records hold only two cases approaching that of Thursday, and those two days were in 1893 and 1894, respectively. But no proofs written or unwritten could persuade the people that it wasn’t hottest day that any April ever produced. It began long before the sun shot up over Lake Michigan in the early morning. By 8 o’clock the jubilant mercury tube registered 78. From that time on the metal seemed to have things its own way. It shot up with each succeeding hour until at 4 o’clock it registered just 88. At the same time the marking in the Auditorium tower had it 84. The trouble, as everybody agreed, was that people were afruid to discard woolens, which had been in use during the winter, for lighter underwear. While the temperature went up and up the people kept saying with a fatal persistency, “Well, it'll be cooler to-morrow. It's only April and this can’t last.” But that brought no relief, and the tired men and women simply kept on perspiring. One man was overcome by the heat. Chicago was not alone In its torrldity. ;New York just tied the record of 84 deIgrees, and the official thermometer of St. |Louis, which, like Chicago's, is bashful about too high an ascension, registered 88. In Louisville there was a good, hot, baseball temperature of 86, and even frigid Boston mustered up a marking of 76. The hot wave extended over practically the whole Mississippi valley.

CLASH MUST SOON OCCUR.

Bellicose Forces in the Valley of the Nile Drawing Together. The Emir of Dongola is moving northward with considerable forces. Spies report his having passed Aboo Fatneh, seventy miles south of Sparda, to join the dervishes who aro /Passing at the latte* place, which is forty-five miles from the Egyptian outpost nt Akasheh. Sarras and Akasheh have been strongly garrisoned. The railway between these points Is being pushed forward as rapidly

EGYPTIAN MOUNTED INFANTRY.

as possible. Four miles of rail have been already laid, and the track will be completed along the course laid down In 1884, In order to pass the cataracts. For the guarding of the railway, strong posts have been established on the Nile nt Semneh, Wady Amblgel, Tangur and Sonki. Each of these posts has been supplied with a contingent to guard the point opposite to it on the line as it is laid, in order to prevent the dervishes from destroying the works. The dervishes at Suarda, who number 8,000, have advanced their posts to Mograkeh, distant fifteen miles from Akasheh, the main body of the dervishes still remaining at Dongola. The moral effect of the announcement of the expedition has been excellent in the Soudan nnd has been of the utmost service to the Italians at Knssala. Newspaper correspondents are at present prevented from going beyond Surras. The opinion is held at Egyptian headquarters that commissariat difficulties will prevent the dervishes from making any formidable advance north of Suarda.

MICHIGAN PROHIBITIONISTS.

Adopt a Free Silver Platform and Elect National Delegates. The Michigan Prohibitionists, in session at Lansing, spent Thursday discussing the relative merits of the dominant idea and the broad-gauged platform. The dominant idea men succeeded in capturing a majority of the Committee on Resolutions and secured a majority report making no mention of free silver. The minority, however, reported a free silver plank and a resolution Instructing the delegation to the national convention to work for a free silver plank in the national platform. The minority report was adopted unanimously and the free silver plank by an overwhelming majority. The resolution of instructions was adopted by a close vote. The delegates-at-large are Henry A. Reynolds of Pontiac, Samuel Dickie of Albion, George R. Malone of Lansing and Rev. John Russell of New Haven.

United Mine Workers.

The national convention of the United Mine Workers of America opened at Columbus, Ohio, with an unusually large attendance, the various districts of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio being fully represented. President P. H. Penna presided, and congratulated the delegates upon the fact that the membership and the financial condition of the organization were strong* er to-day than at any time in its history, despite the fact that in December last the treasury was so depleted as to warrant the raising of the question whether a convention could be held this year. Secretary-Treasurer Mcßryde, in his report, said the coal trade was better prior to 1890, when this association was formed, than it is now. The value of coal on ■board the cars at the mines for 1890 wa* 3110,420,851, and for 1894 the value wa* less than in 1890, although th* product was greater by 7,500,390 ton* This condition, so detrimental to both miner and operator, was caused by th* of the survival of the fittest. Th* two Virginias and their cheap coal had much to do with effecting the changed conditions. Formerly all their coal went to the Atlantic seaboard. To-day ther* is more West Virginia coal in Chicage than Ohio coal, though the former has ta jpass through Ohio en route to Chicago.